1. standard, law, ruling, guide, precept, order. See principle. 4. command, domination, mastery, sway, authority, direction. 13. Rule,administer,command,govern,manage mean to exercise authoritative guidance or direction. Rule implies the exercise of authority as by a sovereign: to rule a kingdom.Administer places emphasis on the planned and orderly procedures used: to administer the finances of an institution.Command suggests military authority and the power to exact obedience; to be in command of: to command a ship.To govern is authoritatively to guide or direct persons or things, especially in the affairs of a large administrative unit: to govern a state.To manage is to conduct affairs, i.e., to guide them in a unified way toward a definite goal, or to direct or control people, often by tact, address, or artifice: to manage a business.14. order, judge.

rule

/ruːl/

noun

1.

an authoritative regulation or direction concerning method or procedure, as for a court of law, legislative body, game, or other human institution or activity: judges' rules, play according to the rules

2.

the exercise of governmental authority or control: the rule of Caesar

3.

the period of time in which a monarch or government has power: his rule lasted 100 days

4.

a customary form or procedure; regular course of action: he made a morning swim his rule

5.

the rule, the common order of things; normal condition: violence was the rule rather than the exception

6.

a prescribed method or procedure for solving a mathematical problem, or one constituting part of a computer program, usually expressed in an appropriate formalism

7.

a formal expression of a grammatical regularity in a linguistic description of a language

8.

any of various devices with a straight edge for guiding or measuring; ruler: a carpenter's rule

Meaning "regulation governing play of a game, etc." is from 1690s. Phrase rule of thumb first attested 1690s. Rule of law "supremacy of impartial and well-defined laws to any individual's power" is from 1883. Meaning "strip used for making straight lines or measuring" is recorded from mid-14c. Typography sense is attested from 1680s.

v.

c.1200, "to control, guide, direct," from Old French riuler "impose rule," from Latin regulare (see regulate). Legal sense "establish by decision" is recorded from early 15c. Meaning "mark with lines" is from 1590s. Meaning "to dominate, prevail" is from 1874. "Rule Brittania," patriotic song, is from 1740. Related: Ruled; ruling.